Are the best Black Friday deals, the deals that last a lifetime? That’s certainly the sell from plenty of smart services out there on Black Friday 2024 – but if something sounds too good to be true then, often, that’s because it is.
We’ve picked out some of the most prominent Black Friday lifetime deals and looked at what they're promising. Are they the deals of a lifetime or is there a better deal on offer?
Note: all prices are in US$ but the deals are available in UKP too.
Lifetime Black Friday VPN deals – quick list
- Lifetime VPN deal: FastestVPN – $22.90 for life!
- Best cheap VPN deal: Surfshark – $1.99 per month
- Lifetime Ad Blocker deal: AdGuard – $33 for life!
- Best Ad Blocker deal: uBlock Origin – Free!
- Lifetime streaming deal: Plex Pass – $79.99
- Best streaming deal: Hulu & Disney Plus bundle for $2.99 per month
- Lifetime cloud storage deal: pCloud 3-in-1 – £599 for life!
- Best cloud storage deal: anything free
Lifetime VPN? FastestVPN vs Surfshark
FastestVPN is offering a lifetime VPN deal this Black Friday. Reach into your wallet for $22.90 and you’ve got FastestVPN forever!
So, is it a good deal?
YES! It’s an excellent deal. FastestVPN normally comes in at around $40 for a lifetime plan, so you can consider it a genuine 2024 Black Friday bargain!
Drawbacks
We reviewed FastestVPN and we rate it as a 3.5-start product. That’s not bad at all. It’s got you covered for the basics of privacy and it’ll do the trick for most of your streaming, torrenting, and gaming needs. It’s a little more limited on some of the security trimmings, it’s got fewer server locations than a lot of our best VPN service providers and, despite its name, it’s a bit on the slow side but, at $22.90 for life, it’s a stone cold bargain. Go for it.
Alternative: Surfshark ($1.99/month)
But, discerning price-conscious VPN buyers should consider Surfshark. Ok, it’s not $22.90 for life. It’s $55 for 2 years ($1.99 per month is how it’s marketed) but it’s a 4.5-star VPN and it really is the fastest VPN on the market.
Lifetime ad blocker – AdGuard vs uBlock
Tired of viewing the internet through a tiny space between massive adverts that follow you around the page? Of course you are. AdGuard is a browser add-on that removes adverts and other kinds of annoying page elements. That makes for a better user experience as well as quicker loading pages, and it saves you data too. This Black Friday AdGuard has a 45% discount on its lifetime plans. So, is it a good deal?
HELL, YES! We rate AdGuard as one of the best ad blockers out there and give it a 4.5-star rating in our AdGuard review. It’s particularly good for desktop use.
Drawbacks
None really. There are even better ad blocker services out there but, at this price, and for this length of time, it’s hard to beat AdGuard today.
uBlock Origin is our top-rated ad blocker and, if all you need is a browser extension, then it’s arguably a better choice. Why? Because it’s free.
Lifetime streaming – Plex Pass
Plex connects your home media to all of your devices. That means you can stream your favorite shows to wherever you are. You also get over 50,000 on-demand shows to try out and 600 live TV channels. Right now on Black Friday there’s 25% off the Plex Pass lifetime deal. So, is it a good deal?
KIND OF. Plex has a free tier but you’ll need Plex Pass to unlock streaming to mobile phones. To be fair, though, that’s a pretty key feature.
Drawbacks
Plex isn’t super useful for everyone. Most people stream their TV shows and films directly from streaming subscription services like Netflix and Disney Plus but, if you’re willing to put the time in to figure it out, you can use these services in tandem with Plex.
Alternative: Disney Plus and Hulu bundle
Just stick with Netflix et al. Better still, there's an excellent Disney Plus and Hulu $2.99 bundle deal. You can stream that anywhere you go too.
Lifetime cloud storage – pCloud vs free services
Lifetime deals are fairly commonplace in cloud storage but if you’re looking for a Black Friday special, look no further than pCloud. You can get the 3in1 Lifetime for $599 instead of $1,563. So, is it a good deal?
NOT BAD. pCloud is one of our best cloud storage providers and the discount is certainly welcome.
Drawbacks
Lifetime deals are a bit more limited when it comes to data storage. 5TB is a big deal now, but 100GB felt like a lot 20 years ago. How’s that looking these days?
Alternatives: free services
There are a lot of free cloud storage services out there. In fact, pCloud and most other providers offer a certain amount for free. Just check that you really need all that space before you pay.
BONUS: Lifetime language learning – Babbel
Language learning app Babbel has a few 2024 Black Friday deals including the fairly chunky $299 lifetime offer. So, is it a good deal?
MAYBE. Babbel is one of the biggest language learning platforms but we’ve never reviewed it ourselves on TechRadar. It's very well-liked, won awards as the best product in its category, and it’s certainly well-established, having been around for 16 years. More to the point, the lifetime plan normally costs $599, so it’s certainly a discount. It's a pretty good deal, so long as you're committed to the learning.
Drawbacks
It’s not exactly cheap, particularly when Babbel’s main rival has a free tier...
Alternative: Duolingo
Duolingo is free to use, so it costs absolutely nothing. That’s a pretty good deal all year round. Granted, functionality is more limited than what Babbel offers but it’s still a daily available language learning tool.
Disclaimer
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
